Craig Goldthorp

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee has revealed that departed defender Ben Hall has at last phoned to say “thank you” for playing him in the Motherwell first team last season.

Hall contacted McGhee after the Motherwell Times recently revealed the ’Well boss’s ire that – in the immediate aftermath of Hall’s departure for English Championship outfit Brighton last month – the teenage defender hadn’t bothered to speak to the man who’d handed him his first team debut at Fir Park.

McGhee said at the time: “When I arrived in October Ben was nowhere near the first team.

“I started his development with Cadds (Chris Cadden), Luke Watt and Fergie (David Ferguson), working in the gym.

“Ben has left and he has not even said cheerio or acknowledged the fact that we exist.

“His agent has never contacted me. He dealt with Alan Burrows.

“The issue is one of courtesy.

“Ben has disappeared down the road and it’s wrong.

“Loyalty is not a word that is often used but Ben owed us a bit more time.

“I understand that Ben has moved because of his agent. That is the modern world.”

But McGhee told the Motherwell Times on Wednesday that the 19-year-old Northern Irishman – who played 18 times for Motherwell last season and helped ’Well under-20s win the Scottish Youth Cup – had now patched up their relationship.

McGhee said: “I was disappointed with Ben but he has since contacted me to say ‘thank you’.

“There was nothing we could do about Ben moving to Brighton.

“He was entitled to do what he did.”

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